Confucius Say
by Sambev
Summary: Splinter has a new way to tackle Raphael's attitude, though it's a little unorthidox...


(AN: ah, I was just being silly. I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it!)

Raphael tripped through the door, and cursed pointlessly at it while he adjusted his red mask. Green fists clenching and unclenching and looking for a throat on which the move could be made useful.

It wasn't so late, but his bike was broken, and frankly, so where his nerves. Even he could see the bristling storm cloud trailing behind him.

"Hey Raph…" Leo tested, rolling a cup of tea between his palms. Raph dark eyes seered his brothers as he entered the kitchen, brushing shoulders with Donatello who scurried to get out of the way. "Where were you?"

"I hate you, pretend I'm a leper." Raph responded quickly in a dry voice, leaving with a bottle of water, and to confirm his statement went straight to his room and apparently exploded from the sound of things.

Leo sighed, once audibly with annoyance he hoped Raphael would hear, then again more quietly for himself. Donatello sat down as if he was surrounded by snipers, and fingers tapping his cup as if they wanted a keyboard. "He's scary sometimes."

"I should go talk to him."

"Maybe," Don answered. "It's never worked before."

Little claws on the tile gave away Splinter's presence in the room as he entered, Leo quickly poured his master a cup of steaming tea and offered a seat.

"I sense that Raphael is troubled."

"Undoubtedly." Don confirmed.

Leo sighed again, "But why? What if he's in trouble?" He met his Master's eyes with intensity, but no more than any other night, "You have to tell him how he's…worrying us."

"I've tried time and time again Leonardo." The rat's whiskers twitched at the prospect attempting to bring wisdom and open the ears of his most difficult son for another uncountable time.

An extensive yawn gained their attention, Mikey winked at them and entered, stretching his shoulders. "What's up with you guys?"

"We were talking about Raph." Donny told him, pouring a forth cup of tea. Even Mikey could figure what exactly it was about Raph they discussed.

Mikey sighed, also extensively, "Aren't we always talking about Raph? Someone just go give the dude a hug."

No one had anything so say to that.

Raph twirled a sai in his fist, because he hardly felt like he had regular hands anymore. His room was perfectly destroyed. Weights over turned, book shelf violently emptied and thrown down. But he'd run out of things to throw and he still wanted something to die.

A single rap against his door gained his attention, being clearly that of his Sensei. Raph glanced around his dark room, in shambles, oh well.

"Sensei."

The rat permitted himself at Raphael's recognition, gazed at his son from the doorway. Seeming almost nervous, Splinter fingered his robes and sat lightly on the bare mattress next to his son. They bounced lightly for a moment, Splinter gazing at Raphael who had tensed visibly in the dark, waiting for a lecture.

And Raph gazed purposefully at his knees. A minute passed, then another, and the turtle, just about ready to storm out again, sat up from his defeated and slumped position.

Raph couldn't contain an audible gasp when the frail looking rat drew Raph's head against his furry shoulder, without any sort of warning. Clutching and rocking Raphael against his chest as if he was a seven year old who'd scraped his knee and when he really in his twenties and just needed a slap to the face. "My son." Splinter concluded and relinquished his grasp with just a little reluctance.

Wide eyed, Raph managed to catch his mouth hanging open. And he waited, a little touched, and a little violated. But Splinter had nothing else to say. Both of them turned to gaze purposefully at their knees.

An awkward moment passed between them, Raph cleared his throat a little, "He who will not economize will have to agonize…" He stated in a low voice.

The small glinting eyes turned to the red clad turtle. "Excuse me?"

"I…I thought the moment was lacking." Raph rubbed his neck and picked his water bottle to sip at. "And that was the only thing I could remember. Not really appropriate."

"Ah, Confucius." Splinter's whiskers bristled, "Learning without thought is labor lost: thought without learning is perilous... But that is not quite right either."

With the empty water bottle no longer a good distraction Raph picked a pile of loose papers from the floor and hid them in a drawer. "Um… The firm, the enduring, the simple and the modest are near to virtue?"

"No no, he who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good."

Raph grinned, despite himself and shook his head, grabbing a blanket off the floor and folding it haphazardly. "Um… The cautious seldom err."

"The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort."

Clearly, Raph knew, that Splinter could concoct something better than that, unless he enjoyed seeing Raph strain to remember dusty quotes he hadn't been aware of knowing at all. "Never get angry, never make a threat, reason with people."

Splinter drew his son's eyes with his stare. "That is good, who says that?"

"It's from The Godfather…"

They both stood up suddenly, awkward as they faced each other in a rare moment as father and son, instead of as pupil and teacher.

"Well," Raph waved a hand at the obvious, "I'd better get this cleaned up yeah?"

"Yes," Splinter agreed, "I will see you in the morning, good night Raphael." The old rat moved for the door, his eyes glinting.

"G'night Sensei…"

Splinter tottered back to the kitchen, and accepted a second cup of tea from Leonardo. The three brothers waited, hovering over their drinks.

"Very good Michelangelo. You can be most wise when you choose to be."

"I know it."


End file.
